Title: Across a Star-Swept Sea
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Description (from Amazon.com): “Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction--the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars--is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries' weapon is a drug that damages their enemies' brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.
On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo... is her most dangerous mission ever.
Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can't risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he's hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country's revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he's pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she's not only risking her heart, she's risking the world she's sworn to protect.
In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.”
Review: I went in to Across a Star-Swept Sea expecting to love it, because I loved the previously published companion novel, For Darkness Shows the Stars. For Darkness was based on Persuasion by Jane Austen, one of my favorite books of all time, and Peterfreund did an outstanding job re-telling it in a new sci-fi setting. So while I expected to love Star-Swept Sea, I didn’t expect to love it on the same level as For Darkness.
How wrong I was. Despite not being familiar with the source material (The Scarlet Pimpernel) I ended up loving Star-Swept Sea even more than the first novel. I think there are two major reasons for this: the setting, and Persis Blake, the protagonist.
Although Star-Swept Sea is set in the same world as For Darkness, the books feature completely different and isolated communities that have developed vastly differently over the centuries of history preceding the books. What this means is that Star-Swept Sea’s setting is really different, and (to my mind at least) way more fun to read about. Albion and Galatea are lush Polynesian or Hawaiian type islands. I could practically see and smell the flowers and the greenery and the clear ocean. Persis’ alter-ego as a spoiled socialite made for some really fun descriptions of elaborate clothing, hairstyles, and parties that I really enjoyed – and even though she had higher priorities, I think Persis did too. There was a genetically engineered sea mink who was ALWAYS fun to read about. The politics were definitely more of a focal point and more fleshed out than the politics of For Darkness. I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything that made me more excited about the idea of visiting a Pacific island and going to a Luau than this book.
And then of course, there’s Persis. Elliot, protagonist of For Darkness, was wonderful , but Persis just struck my fancy more. I loved her passion and her smarts. I loved her sense of fun and unabashed enjoyment of flowers, clothes, and sea minks. I loved her work as a spy, but also her incredible acting as a spoiled socialite. I loved the complicated web of lies she spun around herself, and her conflicted feelings about it. I loved getting inside her head a little and seeing both her supreme confidence and her doubts (rarely about herself, though.) I loved that she is unashamedly portrayed as a woman who is smart, beautiful, confident, talented, girly, rebellious, and still flawed. I just couldn’t get enough of her, and I am so tempted to just start re-reading this book (though I won’t actually do that until I hit my 52 book goal for Cannonball Read!)
Across a Star-Swept Sea is a fun, exciting read. The plot isn’t exactly action driven, but it does move along. And the writing and the character development are incredible and addicting. Since I read it on my Kindle, I was shocked to hear that the actual book is something like 400+ pages long. I flew through it so fast, I would have guessed it was a pretty slim book in print. I liked it so much, I’m thinking of picking up The Scarlet Pimpernel, for comparison’s sake. So while I realize that maybe this book isn’t for everyone, I really really loved it, and I hope I inspire someone to pick it up (or to pick up For Darkness Shows the Stars, which was almost as good) and enjoy it with me.
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Description (from Amazon.com): “Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction--the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars--is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries' weapon is a drug that damages their enemies' brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.
On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo... is her most dangerous mission ever.
Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can't risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he's hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country's revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he's pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she's not only risking her heart, she's risking the world she's sworn to protect.
In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.”
Review: I went in to Across a Star-Swept Sea expecting to love it, because I loved the previously published companion novel, For Darkness Shows the Stars. For Darkness was based on Persuasion by Jane Austen, one of my favorite books of all time, and Peterfreund did an outstanding job re-telling it in a new sci-fi setting. So while I expected to love Star-Swept Sea, I didn’t expect to love it on the same level as For Darkness.
How wrong I was. Despite not being familiar with the source material (The Scarlet Pimpernel) I ended up loving Star-Swept Sea even more than the first novel. I think there are two major reasons for this: the setting, and Persis Blake, the protagonist.
Although Star-Swept Sea is set in the same world as For Darkness, the books feature completely different and isolated communities that have developed vastly differently over the centuries of history preceding the books. What this means is that Star-Swept Sea’s setting is really different, and (to my mind at least) way more fun to read about. Albion and Galatea are lush Polynesian or Hawaiian type islands. I could practically see and smell the flowers and the greenery and the clear ocean. Persis’ alter-ego as a spoiled socialite made for some really fun descriptions of elaborate clothing, hairstyles, and parties that I really enjoyed – and even though she had higher priorities, I think Persis did too. There was a genetically engineered sea mink who was ALWAYS fun to read about. The politics were definitely more of a focal point and more fleshed out than the politics of For Darkness. I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything that made me more excited about the idea of visiting a Pacific island and going to a Luau than this book.
And then of course, there’s Persis. Elliot, protagonist of For Darkness, was wonderful , but Persis just struck my fancy more. I loved her passion and her smarts. I loved her sense of fun and unabashed enjoyment of flowers, clothes, and sea minks. I loved her work as a spy, but also her incredible acting as a spoiled socialite. I loved the complicated web of lies she spun around herself, and her conflicted feelings about it. I loved getting inside her head a little and seeing both her supreme confidence and her doubts (rarely about herself, though.) I loved that she is unashamedly portrayed as a woman who is smart, beautiful, confident, talented, girly, rebellious, and still flawed. I just couldn’t get enough of her, and I am so tempted to just start re-reading this book (though I won’t actually do that until I hit my 52 book goal for Cannonball Read!)
Across a Star-Swept Sea is a fun, exciting read. The plot isn’t exactly action driven, but it does move along. And the writing and the character development are incredible and addicting. Since I read it on my Kindle, I was shocked to hear that the actual book is something like 400+ pages long. I flew through it so fast, I would have guessed it was a pretty slim book in print. I liked it so much, I’m thinking of picking up The Scarlet Pimpernel, for comparison’s sake. So while I realize that maybe this book isn’t for everyone, I really really loved it, and I hope I inspire someone to pick it up (or to pick up For Darkness Shows the Stars, which was almost as good) and enjoy it with me.
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